FINAL BATTLE GUYS THIS IS IT! :D

But I'm not dead. Not yet, anyway.

All of the bullets stopped, most just inches away from my body. Was this the work of Magneto? No, it couldn't be. He was with the rest of them. All the bullets turn toward the soldiers and race into them, killing each and every one. There was a circle of dead bodies around me now, but I was not the one to cause this mess.

Humans are so pathetic.

The voice rang in my head, as an echo. Female – Jean probably. I twirl around, but she is not in sight. Instead, I see more guards. For now I should ignore that voice, and aim and shoot – just as always. The beams knock down every single guard in one full swoop. This was getting easy – could there be anything harder?

You fight strong.

It won't go away – that god awful voice. That's when I see her. She was magnificent, with her red hair blazing as she floated toward me. She was hypnotizing to watch as her feet gracefully felt the ground. She was hardly normal though. Her eyes were much like her hair – red with gold flaming around it. As she walks toward me, I realize that I can't move. Crap – this isn't good. Her powers are strong – and I am not stronger. I look around at my friends, but they were all hanging – useless – which means they can't help me now.

Join me. Together we will fight. The Dark Phoenix is always accompanied by the Light Phoenix.

Light Phoenix? Is she suggesting that I am her better half? I'm not sure whether to laugh in her face or not. What stupidity.

"Never." Jean frowns.

Pity.

She doesn't need to move to make me feel the pain from within. It was literally gut retching as I recoil and fall to my knees. My breath was cutting off – there was no hope for me now. But wait – there was one thing left.

"You are… the Dark Phoenix, so change into the Phoenix already. Or is Jean still in there, and fighting it? Huh? Cause if she can hear me right now, she needs to hail ass and get in control again. If not – then get the Phoenix out here. I want to fight."

The pain halts as Jean peers down at me with disgust. At first – anyway. Her eyes change from the red to normal for a second just a second, and she looks down at her hands as if she doesn't know what she has done.

The moment doesn't last long, however. Her eyes change back to the hellish nightmare. She was no longer Jean. Her arms spread apart, wind embracing the area. She flies to the top of the underground building, her body slowly disintegrating into the Phoenix. So it was chosen. Jean was dead, but the Phoenix was not. It stayed suspended in the air, glowing with fire and practically blinding me. Now was my chance.

As the ferocious bird swooped down toward me, I stick out my hands as it rushes toward me – and absorb the energy of the Phoenix. All of it, until there is nothing left.

Silence – there is utter silence from everyone and everything. For a moment I feel fine – as if nothing had happened. Then it hits – more searing pain unlike no other – sending me to scream in pain. Well, at least I broke the silence.

My hands were burning as I could feel my skin cracking. There was a two-inch crack that spiraled around both arms and legs. All the power was running through my veins until I could see only the light. No – not that light. The light from the phoenix, only it wasn't red anymore – it was gold. Shimmering gold that engulfed everything. I know what is going to happen – but I don't want any of my friends to die. Just think, V, think about them staying alive during –

Everything around me disintegrates – except all the people I have met and learned from. All the guards were dead, Jeans body was gone, everything. But wait – I'm not dead.

Behind me there is another Phoenix, the one that Jean talked about – the GOLDEN (or Light) Phoenix. That is what I was – or am. That is why I was a part of saving the world. It disappears into the air, leaving just me and the comrades around me.

I fall to my knees, the loss of power consuming me. The cracks were still there, as was gold that shown through those cracks only, the rest of my skin remained the same. Right now, I was glowing with the golden power that was left inside of me.

Right here and now, I just saved the world. That's right. Me.

And I could really go for a sandwich.